As part of a special report on the state of couch potatoes in the year 2010, the Economist collected data on perceived vs. actual media consumption. People are in denial about their TV addictions and overconfident in their YouTube cool.

Maybe not consciously, but that seems to be the case. The chart shows that to some extent YouTube is still a media event—something we're aware of ourselves watching—whereas TV just washes over us and seeps into our rotting brains without us even realizing it.

These numbers are from 2008, though, and it would be interesting to see how the balance has shifted over the last 2 years. Personally, my YouTube watching is way up, my TV watching is way down, and the only time I hear the radio is when someone drives by with their windows down. Because honestly, who needs Treme when you have this. [The Economist]